Shooter Was “Obsessed With The Idea Of Killing Children,” Left Behind 20 Victims At Minneapolis School Mass
The Annunciation Catholic School gunman left “hundreds of pages of writings” revealing he idolized notorious mass shooters and was “obsessed with the idea of killing children,” acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joe Thompson said Thursday.
Authorities have identified 20 victims of Wednesday's shooting, including two children who died, along with 15 kids ages 6 to 15 and three adults in their 80s who were injured. Everyone injured is expected to survive, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
As of Thursday morning, nine of the victims remain at Hennepin County Medical Center — six in stable condition, two in serious condition, and one child in critical condition, according to interim CEO Thomas Klemond. The child in critical condition is “touch and go," he said. Three children are also still being treated at Children’s Minnesota, a Minneapolis trauma hospital.
MORE ON THE SHOOTER
The gunman, a former student at Annunciation, left behind writing detailing the plan, their mental state, and an “indiscriminate hate” for everyone — except notorious mass shooters — Thompson said Thursday, adding that the shooter’s main goal was “to watch children suffer."
The shooter appeared to get the three firearms used in the attack legally and did not have a criminal record.
THE RESPONSE
The attacker was unable to get into the church during Wednesday morning's Mass because the doors were locked, saving many lives, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
O'Hara praised officials at the Annunciation Catholic School church for its protocols, which forced the shooter to instead fire through the windows from outside the building. The gunman reportedly visited the church previously and sketched out the floor plan, which was published in a now-deleted video on YouTube prior to the attack.
“I would also say that the training that the kids did, surprisingly, paid off,” Hennepin’s EMS director Martin Scheerer said Thursday. “They all laid on the floor. They covered each other up. That was key.”
Scheerer said one child “took a shotgun blast to his back” while shielding another.